Training: Conferences

Upcoming Events:

Past Events:

AHCJ's annual conference will feature three and a half days of workshops, panels, roundtables and field trips covering the latest topics in medical science, health policy, public health, medical education, consumer health and the business of health care. Sessions focus on the special needs of reporters, editors and producers as they attempt to cover these topics for their audiences.

The conference will include a salute to the latest winners of the annual Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. The awards luncheon, as well as receptions and breakfasts are included in the registration fee.

NEW THIS YEAR: We are excited to offer this year’s conference attendees an opportunity to have a professional head shot taken for their personal or business use for just a $10 sitting fee.

At AHCJ's annual conference, attendees are exposed to sources and resources that can provide immediate news or become the foundation for in-depth projects in the weeks and months ahead.

Conference attendees have heard from – and interacted with – high-level government officials, top-notch researchers, well-regarded educators, effective clinicians, prize-winning journalists and authors and many more experts on a vast array of health topics.

Hundreds of journalism colleagues gathered in California’s Silicon Valley — an intersection of health and technology, and home to Health Journalism 2015.

Attendees visited area sites during field trips, heard from world-class health experts and journalists during panels, took part in skill-building workshops, and more. The conference helps reporters, editors and producers cover the latest in medical research, health technology, public health issues, the business of health care, health policy matters and journalism.

The world’s most important gathering and training event in health care journalism will take place at the Grand Hyatt in downtown Denver. There will be dozens of workshops, panels and roundtable discussions featuring some of the best minds in medicine, health policy, research, public health and business.

Our spotlight speakers include Louis W. Sullivan, M.D., who served as HHS secretary from 1989 to 1993 and was the founding dean and first president of Morehouse School of Medicine, and Paul A. Offit, M.D., chief of the division of infectious diseases and director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Sullivan is author of "Breaking Ground: My Life in Medicine," due out just before the conference. Offit is the author of several books including "Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All" (2011), and "Do You Believe in Magic? The Sense and Nonsense of Alternative Medicine" (2013). Gov. John Hickenlooper will welcome attendees to Colorado during the conference kickoff.

A record crowd of more than 750 attended Health Journalism 2013 in Boston. Journalists from across the United States and eight other nations took part in skill-building workshops, panel discussions and field trips to area research sites.

The conference, produced by the association’s Center for Excellence in Health Care Journalism, featured world-class speakers, and helpful sessions aimed at aiding reporters, editors and news producers in better covering the latest health issues. AHCJ used a news briefing to unveil its news app, hospitalinspections.org.

Former President Jimmy Carter, and first lady Rosalynn Carter, as well as Otis Brawley, M.D., the American Cancer Society's chief medical and scientific officer, and David Satcher, former U.S. Surgeon General, will be spotlight speakers at the annual conference of AHCJ.

David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D., former surgeon general and CDC director, will join us on April 20 to discuss what the future looks like for primary care.

As a special feature this year, we will be joined by former Olympic runner Jeff Galloway. He will lead early-morning risers on an easy-paced run around downtown on April 19. After returning to the hotel, he will discuss covering health and fitness.

Join more than 500 other journalists as they take part in skill-building workshops, sit in on panel discussions and visit area research sites. The conference, produced by the association’s Center for Excellence in Health Care Journalism, features world-class speakers, important news briefings and helpful sessions all aimed at aiding reporters, editors and news producers in better covering the latest health issues.

Freelancers will have an opportunity to pitch story ideas to assignment editors. Winners of the latest Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism will be celebrated. An exhibit hall will feature foundations, universities, research institutions and other organizations with useful reporter resources. And all attendees will have numerous opportunities to network with their peers – at sessions, meals and receptions, all of which are included in the registration fee.

AHCJ's annual conference goes to Philly!

The program will include dozens of panels, field trips, newsmaker briefings, Freelance Pitchfest, world-class speakers, 2010 Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism luncheon and a number of other special events.

Speakers will include G. Michael Lemole Jr., M.D., the neurosurgeon who treated U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords after she was shot in Tucson; Brian Deer, the British reporter who exposed the weaknesses in a study that led parents all over the world to withhold vaccines from their children; Walt Bogdanich, an investigative editor at The New York Times; NIH director Francis S. Collins; Donald M. Berwick, administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ... as well as many more outstanding journalists and experts.

More than 500 people joined us in the Windy City for a world-class program of panels, workshops, field trips and classes planned to improve journalists' knowledge of today's hot-button health issues. Attendees tell us they went home with story ideas, had the chance to meet sources, strengthened their reporting skills and attend breaking newsmaker events. There were plenty of opportunities to network with other journalists.

Highlights

• Peter Pronovost, M.D., Ph.D., professor, Johns Hopkins University Quality and Safety Research Group, will be this year's keynote speaker.

Join us in Seattle for AHCJ's annual conference, featuring dozens of experts and top journalists.

Reforming our health care system, which many believe is necessary for the United States to see economic recovery, is at the top of many people's minds these days. A number of panels, with expert speakers, at Health Journalism 2009 have been designed to help journalists cover health reform and all of the issues involved in a way that their readers and viewers will understand and appreciate.

More reasons not to miss this conference: Freelance PitchFest , networking with colleagues, receptions and much more. Panels and speakers will cover policy, business, research and clinical topics, with an aim of giving attendees practical ideas and information.

Nearly 600 people attended Health Journalism 2008 for dozens of panels on medical research, public health, the business of health care and consumer health. They also hear actor Dennis Quaid's very personal perspective on medical errors, Elizabeth Edwards' take on John McCain's health care plan, top experts debate the future of health care in this country and much more. News briefings by HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt and officials from the American Public Health Association and its partners let attendees write stories for their news outlets during the conference.

More than 400 journalists attended Health Journalism 2007, gathering story ideas and resources. The conference featured a news briefing by Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger; a Hollywood and Health panel of writers, producers and actors from hit television dramas; and a keynote conversation with Steve Case, founder of AOL and Revolution Health.

More than 350 journalists, educators, students and health care experts gathered in Houston to take advantage of more than 50 workshop or panel sessions, five field trips and several receptions and other networking opportunities.